Praying the Psalms.

Living in a retirement community as we do, there is always a list of those needing prayer.  Most of those are for healing.  Whoever coined the phrase “The Golden Years” never got there.  They really aren’t so golden after all!

So often we don’t have the words of comfort that are needed during our prayer time.  That’s when we should turn to the Book of Psalms.  Though most were penned by King David hundreds of years ago, they each take on a new meaning when reading them today.

Scriptures in our Bibles aren’t just for reference purposes.  As the sacred words of God they deserved to be read and studied.  But have you tried reading them aloud?  According to the Jewish rabbis, both reading and the study of Scripture is an expression of worship in and of itself.  It pleases God to hear His words when read aloud to Him in an audible, human voice.  The rabbis in any synagogue sing their praises as well as the scriptures.  Lately in our congregation we have been reciting Biblical verses together.  It somehow seems as if all of us are praising God with one voice.

The Psalms are special in this regard, because even though they are undoubtedly God’s Word, they are prayers.  They are expressed in the voice of humanity.  How much more so, then is it appropriate for humans to utter them in prayer!  The Psalms, then, are a powerful source of guidance.  They make it possible to pray in alignment with God’s will even when words fail us.

In the days of the apostles, the book of Psalms constituted the hymnal of the Levites, who recited these passages in the Temple as a musical accompaniment to the sacrifices.  Undoubtedly Jesus and his followers would sing these songs also, perhaps under their prayer shawls which formed their “wings”.  They were under God’s wings.

The Psalms make up the bulk of the traditional prayers in the Siddur, which is the Jewish daily prayer book.  Most of them were probably memorized which makes them more personal in the heart. The Psalms are expressions of praise, mourning, supplication, thanksgiving, hope and devotion.

Today there are many Christians who pray through the Psalms and often from memory as well.  The Puritans believed in repeating these songs to their children and they were expected to memorize most of them.  I’m afraid most of us today don’t take the time to learn them “by heart.”

Since many of the Psalms are messianic in nature, we can come closer to our Lord knowing that He also recited these songs.  As such, praying the Psalms affords us an effectual and transformative opportunity for an intimate connection with our Lord.

Whenever you or a loved is in distress, in need of healing or comfort, or if one is overflowing with thanks, the Psalms are there to put eloquent words to our thoughts.

When you are too distressed to pray…………pray the Psalms.